Richard B. Wolf is a partner in the Los Angeles office of the nationwide law firm of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP. Since 1970, Wolf has specialized in insurance coverage advice and litigation. He is a member of the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and serves on the panel of arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association (AAA). In a decision filed August 5, 2016, the United Stated District Court for the Northern District of California, applying California law, held that a wine dealer’s commercial general liability insurance policy excludes coverage for the dealer’s misappropriation of a third …
In a partial trade-off, a U.S. District Court in California ruled that a series of storage facility thefts, all committed as part of one criminal scheme, qualified as a claim for a single “occurrence” property insurance policy limit, but that …
In a decision with more than the usual transaction guidance, an Illinois federal district court has taught businesses how important it is to satisfy with precision the requirements of their counterparties’ insurance policies, if they hope to gain the shelter …
The highest New York state court has ruled that disputes over workers’ compensation insurance payment agreements between National Union and three California-based employer insureds must be decided by arbitration under arbitration clauses of those agreements and the Federal Arbitration Act …
A California intermediate appellate court has reaffirmed that a client’s professional negligence claim against his or her property/casualty insurance broker is freely assignable. It held, also, that the assigned rights are enforceable in court by the assignee without proof that …
A U.S. district court in Missouri has rejected a policyholder’s strained interpretation of an “owned vehicle exclusion” standard in the underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage of automobile policies. The case, filed January 22, 2006, is entitled Walker v. Progressive Direct Ins.Co., …
A verbal altercation that turned into a physical confrontation between two men on May 23, 2010, in Portland, Maine led to the recent Supreme Court ruling to affirm a trial court’s decision to uphold an insurer’s summary judgment. After William …
A prototypical uninsured motor vehicle insurance claim involves an uninsured third party vehicle injuring someone in a different car that has both liability and uninsured motorist (UM) coverages. What happens when the policyholder is injured while she is a passenger …
An insurer is ordinarily free to restrict the risks it will underwrite and is responsible only for losses within the coverage wording of its policies of insurance. (Fresno Economy Import Used Cars, Inc. v. United States Fid. & Guar. Co. …
Travelers insured Warehouse Wine & Spirits, Inc. against risks of direct physical loss, including theft, with certain exceptions. One James Ceseretti stole more than $1 million worth of wine and liquor while he ran a warehouse for Warehouse Wines, where …